Automatic glue-drying rack



I March 31, 1931. I Q J; ROBERTS 1,799,135

AUTOMATIC GLUE DRYING RACK Filed 001.. 30, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l Car/ J.Faber/s iwa March 31, 1931. c. .1. ROBERTS AUTOMATIC GLUE DRYING RACKFiled Oct. 30, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwwntoi Car/ J Kobe/14s AUTOMATICGLUE DRYING RACK Filed Oct. so. 1928 s Sheets-Slqet a;

I! Z7 -/4 z :4 val 2 m Z3? 56 a 5...; T i I 3 56 ag I 9 35 41 42 2 il 4239 gwumtoc Patented Mar. 31, 1931 arena CARL 3'. ROBERT, OE TACOMA,WASHINGTON AUTOMATIC GLUE-DRYING RACK Application filed Gctoher 30,1928. Serial No. 315,942

This invention relates to machines adapted to receive freshly gluedpieces of wood and to secure them therein, under pressure, until asufiicient time has elapsed to p'ermitthe glue 5 to dry enough to enablethem to be handled.

The objects of my invention are to provide such a machine, first, whichis automatic in its action whereby the insertion of a freshly gluedpiece causes the carriers to move and also causes the piece which hasbeen longest in the machine, to be ejected therefrom; second, which,though holding a large-number of such glued pieces, occupies but littlefloor space in the factory; third, which automatically grips the freshlyglued piece inserted therein and places it under pressure and removes itto make room for the next such piece; fourth, which automaticallyreleases such piece from pressure as it approaches the end of itstravel; and fifth, which automatically ejects such piece subsequent toits release from pressure. 7

Further objects of my invention are, first,

to provide trigger means for automatically placing the driving mechanismin operative position when the freshly glued piece is inserted in themachine second, to provide such a driving mechanism'which will beinoperative except when such trigger mechanism has been actuated by thepiece inserted in the machine; third, to provide suitable guide meansfor the carrier chains; fourth, to provide suitable clamping means onthe carrier chains, whereby the piece is heldunder pres sure; fifth, toprovide suitable releasing means in connection with said guide means andadapted to; open said clamping means to rece1ve, or to release, theglued piece; sixth,

to provide suitable means whereby the glued piece is supported in aposition removed from the line of .actlon of said clamping means beforeit is e ected; seventh, to provide su1table ejecting means adapted toremove the glued piece from the machine; and'eighth, to

provide a machine which is cheap tobuild,

simple to operate, and effective in use.

I attain these and other objects by the devices, mechanisms, andarrangements illustrated in the accompanying drawings, 111

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my improved machine; Fig. 2 is a sideelevation thereof; Fig. 3 is an elevation of a portion of the mechanism'thereof showing the driving mechanism in inoperative position andshowing a freshly glued piece being inserted; Fig.

i is a plan view thereof; Fig. 5 is a view showing the parts as about tobe operated; and Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 in Fig. 5. ivSimilar numerals of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

This machine is primarily intended for use in woodenware factories andespecially in connection with making the bottoms of 55 buckets andsimilar objects. Such bottoms are usually made by gluing together aplurality of pieces of wood into a rectangular board from which thecircular bottom may be cut. This machine is adapted to receive suchglued up boards and to retain them under pressure, as they are carriedthereby, and to deposit them in a pile, which may be removed from timeto time'for the further operations in their manufacture.

The machine comprises a tall vertical frame having two parallelvertically moving chainsmounted thereon, each chain having carrier armsextending horizontally therefrom at regular intervals and adapted toreceive and carry the freshly glued board, together with means forintermittently operatnig said chains whenever a fresh board 'is placedthereon, and means to simultaneously eject the most advanced boardthere- 35 from.

The work table 1, at which the pieces are glued together to form a board2, is at the front side of my improved machine, and the receiving table3, on which theyare piled as they are automatically ejected, is on therear side thereof.

The frame of the machine comprises two vertical members 4, suitablybraced and secured in position. The height of these membars l-depends onthe height of the room in which they are used but should be about tenfeet.

A power-shaft 5 is suitably mounted across the machine between themembers 4:, said 109 shaft being; driven by suitable means such as thebel 6 engagin the pulley 'Z and operated by the motor 8.

A lower sprocket shaft 9 is mounted below, and to one side of, the saidpower shaft 5. A similar upper sprocket shaft 10 is mounted near the topof the frame members 4:. Two sets of sprocket wheels 11 are mounted onthe shafts 9 and 10 and are adapted to receive the two endless sprocketchains 12.

Each sprocket chain 12 is composed of spe cial inside links 13 (Fig. 6)and suitable outside links 14c. with rollers 15 between them. Eachinside linl: is provided with a long ea in arm 16 extending at right ao'lcs thereto ano which may be made int .l therewith. The sprocket wheels11 are secured to t eir respective shafts 9 and 10 with the .1 th inalinement, and therefore the two carrier arms 16 of corresponding linksof the two chains lie in the same horizontal. plane and are adapted toreceive the glued b: ,rds thereon. The length of the links 13 and 1%such as to give a sufficient distance between successive arms 16 topermit the easy insertion of the board 2 between them.

Referring; particularly to Fig. 4, it willbe seen that theabove-described chains 12 ride in vertical guide tracks secured. to theframe members 4. Each guide track comprises an outer member 17 and aninner member 18 between which the rollers 15 pass. The weight of eachboard 2 tends to cause the chain to sag: towards the frame and thisaction is opposed by the said guide track.

A lug or stop 19 is formed on the upper side of each arm 16, near thechain, and is adapted to be enrgaged by the end of the board 2 and tolimit its inward motion on the arm 16. A clamp rod 20 is slidablymounted on the inner side of each arm 16 and is provided, at its innerend, with a roller 21, and at its outer end with a clamp pin 22 (whichmay be inserted in one of nun'iber of different positions therein) andis drawn inward by means of a spring; 23.

As seen in Fig. 3, the table 1 above the level of the unfilled arm 16and in such position that the board 2 may be slid thereon over the topof the said pin 22. A cam surface 24- is formed on the inner side of theguide track (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3) and is engaged bytheroller 21 to force the pin 22 out of clamping position against theaction of the spring 23. This cam positioned immediately below the levelof the work table 1 and therefore, when a freshly glued board isinserted and drops on the arms 16, the pins 22 are out of engagementtherewith until the rollers 21 slide down the upper ends of the camsurfaces 2-1, when the said pins 22 clamp the board 2 between them andthe steps 19. The two front guide tracks extend from below the worktable 1 to a point adjacent to the shaft 10. A similar pair of rearguide tracks extend down the rear side of the frame members 1 from theshaft 10 to a point well above the receiving table 3.

The rear cam surface 25, formed on the rear track, is the reverse of thefront cam 24, and operates similarly thereto, thus releasing the board 2from the clamping action of the pin 22. But, as the chains pass over theupper spr cket wheels 11, the arms 16 are inverted and the boards 2 aretherefore suspended below the arms, as seen in Fig. 2. Therefore whenthe clamp pins 22 are withdrawn by the rear cams 25, the said board 2 isdropped on to the arm 16 below it. This arm 16 has no stop or otherprojection on this side (Fig. 5), and therefore the said boards 2 arefree to be ejected as soon as they have thus been released.

Referring now to Figs. 3 to 6, it will be seen that a latch lever 26 isloosely mounted on the shaft 5, or other suitable pivot, and is providedwith an operating rod 27, extending therefrom through an arm 28 to apoint adjacent to the stop 19, and isadapted to be engaged by the end ofthe freshly glued board 2, when it is inserted, to actuate the latchlever. Vihen no board 2 is in place on the arm 16 the rod 27 is in itsforwardposition and the latch is: droppedto hold the spoke of thehereinafter described intermittent drive wheel out of the plane of theconstantly rotating drive tooth, and therefore the chains arestationary. But as soon as the board 2 is inserted to engage the end ofthe rod 27, it raises the latch and permits the tooth to engage thespoke to move the chains the space of one link.

The latch lever 26 is provided, at its lower end, with a head 29, havinga laterally bent tongue, 30 extending laterally and forwardly therefromand forming an inclined plane adapted to be engaged by each spoke of thehereinafter described intermittent drive wheel successively as the drivewheel is rotated, and thus to be removed thereby out of the plane of thedriving tooth. The head 29 is shaped to hold the spoke in such removedposition until the latch rod 27 is actuated by a board 2, when said head29 is moved to permit the spoke to pass into the plane of the drivingtooth. The latch rod 27 is constantly pressed outward and, as soon asthe board 2 has been moved by the intermittent drive to release its end,it again occupies such advance position and the latch head 29 holds theneXt spoke from its operative position, until the next board 2 isinserted.

The power shaft 5 is constantly rotating; and carries a drive tooth 31mounted thereon and of any desired form. I prefer to insert a shockabsorber between the tooth 31 and the shaft 5. This may consist of ahollow barrel 32 (Fig. 6) on the tooth, loosely mounted on the shaft 5,a collar 33 secured to the shaft 5, a spring 34 secured to the collar 33and to the barrel 32, and a lug 35 on the sprocket shaft 9 and comprisesa disk having a series of radial grooves 38 in one side. A series ofspokes 39 lie in said grooves 38, be ing hinged to the disk at theirinner ends, as at 40, and being pressed into said grooves 38 by means ofsprings 41. The cater for ward edge of each spoke 39 is beveled as at 42to insure its engagement with the inclined tongue 30 of the trigger.Each spoke 39 lies normally in the groove 38 and in the path of therotating tooth 31, the spoke eX- tendingradia-lly from the disk 37. Thetooth 31 is adapted to engage the spoke and to move it through onespoke-gage, thus bringing the next spoke into the engaging position asit leaves the last spoke. But, as before stated, each spoke 39, as itapproaches said engaging position, slides up the inclined tongue 30 andis thus removed from the plane of the tooth 31 until the latch head 29is moved, as above described, to release it and permit the spring 41 toreturn it into the plane of said tooth 31.

A kicker shaft 43 is mounted on the rear portion of the machine,adjacent to the rear cam 25, and is driven intermittently by the belt 44on the pulleys 45 on the shafts 9 and 43. A series of kicker legs 46are'mounted on the shaft 43 and are adapted to engage the loose board 2to throw it outward from between the successive arms 16. The diameter ofthe two pulleys 45 is such that the small motion of the shaft 9, as eachboard is received, causes the legs 46 to engage and forcibly eject thelowest loose board 2 from the A machine.

it may be automatically fed, in which case its intermittent motion maybe modified; also a conveyer may be substituted for the receiving table.v V

The machine illustrated is one form of my invention and is designed forthe particular conditions in a factory and many changes in thedetailsmay be made to suit other conditions, without departing from theidea of my invention, such,-for1instance, as substituting afixedinclined plane, leading to the latch head, for the inclined tongueon the latch head, or changing the form of the chains, the

shape of the latch, or the details of the intermittent drive wheel. 7

Having described my invention,-what I claim is i 1 r 1. In an automaticglue-drying rack, the combination of a driven sprocket shaft; twosprocket wheels secured thereon; a pair of complementary idler sprocketwheels mount ed vertically above said first sprocket wheels; twovertical endless sprocket chains on said pairs of wheels; carrier armson saidchains and extending therefrom in corresponding positions; stopson said arms; spring opei Y ated clamps on said arms and adapted toclamp a plurality of glued boards on said arms between said stops andsaid clamps, whereby the formed board is conveyed vertically upward andover said idler sprocket wheels and is inverted thereby to be suspendedfrom said arms by said clamps; means for opening said clamps to permitthe formed board to be dropped to the opposite unobstructed side of thenext precedingarms and ejecting means adapted to engage the releasedboard and to remove it from the machine.

2. In an automatic glue-drying rack, the combination with a verticalframe; two complementary guide tracks secured thereto in verticalposition, each guide track comprising an inner and an outer verticalrail; two similar endless conveying chains traveling in said guidetracks between the rails thereof; complementary arms extending from eachsaid chain and adapted to receive a plurality of glued boards on theirupper sides; stops formed on said arms, to engage the inner edge of thefirst board inserted in the machine;

spring-operated clamping means adapted to engage the outer edge of thelast board and to press the boards together and press the said inneredge thereof against said stops; and inclined surfaces adapted to engagesaid clamping means to open them from clamping position, against theaction of their springs, said guide tracks cooperating with saidinclined surfaces to hold the arms while said clamping means are beingoperated.

3. In an automatic glue-drying rack, the combination of a constantlyrotating drive shaft; a drive tooth mounted thereon; a conveyer chainadapted to intermittentlyreceive glued boards at predetermined point; adriving wheel; transversely movable spokes mounted on said driving wheeland normally lying in the path of rotation of said drive tooth; aninclined plane adapted to engage the spoke about to reach the positionto be engaged by said tooth, to remove it from the path of said tooth; alatch adapted to hold the said oflset spoke and to be actuated; by thefreshly glued board being placed in the machine, to Withdraw from saidspoke and thereby to permit said spoke to return to normal position; anda sprocket wheel actuated by said driving Wheel and actuating said con-Veyer chain.

l. In an automatic glue-drying rack, the combination of a rotatingshaft; a driving tooth loosely mounted on said rotating shaft;shock-absorbing means interposed between said shaft and said tooth;conveying means adapted to intermittently receive glued boards thereonat a predetermined point; and means adapted to intermittently connectsaid tooth to said conveying means, the shock of such connection beingabsorbed by said shockabsorbing means.

CARL J. ROBERTS).

